


You Were There to Wear it From the Start

by puppyfacedbrokenboys



Category: Glee
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Marriage Proposal, kitty/ryder implied background because they have a son
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-04
Updated: 2013-08-04
Packaged: 2017-12-22 11:00:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/912414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppyfacedbrokenboys/pseuds/puppyfacedbrokenboys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a month or so of planning, tonight was the night. Jake could not believe he was doing this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Were There to Wear it From the Start

After a month or so of planning, tonight was the night. Jake could not believe he was doing this.

He had an elaborate plan and hoped that everything went well. He had Blaine take Marley out for a shopping day while Jake tried to set everything up in a nervous frenzy. He had enlisted Sam and Puck's help on selecting the perfect ring the week prior (which really wasn't necessary besides being his ride because he was too hyped up to focus on the road. He had pretty much found the ring on the first go, like it called to him or something) and to help put the details into motion.

He had asked Blaine and Kitty to help him with the posters and got Unique to tell him what to wear. ("Should I go full out suit? Dress pants, shirt, and vest? Tucked or untucked? What?!" "Stop talking, you're ruining my focus!") He had Ryder and Kitty provide the chocolate covered strawberries and a fruit pizza that Marley had mentioned having a craving for the day prior. He also had Kitty and Ryder's son Spencer help him place the (unlit) candles in a circle around the words etched in the sand as Jake and the other guys toted their guitars down to the beach.

It was the spot that Jake had first taken Marley way back during their first summer together, when she had tagged along with him to LA between their sophomore and junior years of high school. They had held hands and walked along the shore barefoot, with Jake edging them closer and closer to the water before picking her up and running into the water. She had been mad at him and got revenge by dunking him under. When he came up sputtering, she had laughed and laughed with Jake joining in, and they didn't stop for a long time after that. It was perfect.

His plan was to have Blaine escort her to their "beach date" where she thought they'd have dinner on blankets and watch the sunset together. But on the way, Kitty, Spencer, Ryder, and then Unique would be waiting at different spots on the path down. Each person had a poster that had something special written in Jake's handwriting on them to show Marley. Blaine and Unique would escort her the rest of the way to where Jake was waiting with his own poster. Unique stood with Blaine and the rest to Jake's right and Puck and Sam stood with guitars to his left.

Kitty:

Spencer:

Ryder:

Unique:

Jake:

When she was a few feet away, Puck and Sam started playing a melody that Jake had specifically arranged for this moment. He smashed up parts of two songs together. When she looked over to him after taking everything in - eyes shining in the reflecting candle light, her expression full of shock and excitement and love - Jake began to sing his heart out.

_"Time stands still_  
 _Beauty in all she is_  
 _I will be brave_  
 _I will not let anything take away_  
 _What's standing in front of me …"_

Jake's voice was rough with nerves and slightly choked as he tried to keep his composure. Seeing Marley in front of him, with the golden light making her glow like the angel she was from the sun setting behind them, it was enough to make Jake's heart skip a beat. She was simply breathtaking, and Jake was finding it hard to breathe as he kept his eyes locked on hers.

_"'Cause when I needed a place to hang my heart_  
 _You were there to wear it from the start_  
 _Time has brought your heart to me_  
 _I've loved you for a thousand years_  
 _I'll love you for a thousand more_  
 _Every breath of me_  
 _You'll be the only light I see_  
 _Every hour has come to this_  
 _One step closer…"_

He pushed every word past his lips, and when they simultaneously took one step closer as they had done years ago, Jake felt very much as he did on that stage, with everything feeling so wonderful and brand new, but this time in a new way. Because he was asking her to be his forever tonight. And instead of leaning forward to seal their lips together, he dropped the poster in his hands and dropped to his knee beside the question he etched in the sand hours beforehand.

With his best friends and his brothers – his and Marley's _family –_ watching on from around them _,_ Jake looked up into those beautiful and grounding eyes of his angel, balancing on one knee as he reached into his dress pants' pocket and pulled out a forest green velvet box. He kept it hidden in his hand for the time being, trying to will it to stop shaking.

With his free hand, he reached up and brushed his fingertips over the back of Marley's left hand, slowly gliding them across her skin until they reached the underside of her palm. He pressed their palms together and slowly threaded their fingers together, and somehow the warmth and weight of her hand seemed to ground him. His nerves calmed slightly, his chest loosened enough to let him breathe better, and his heart slowed to a nice, steady beat in his chest. His smile brightened, growing bigger as he began to speak.

For as much as he agonized over what he'd say, the words flew out of him – his heart and soul.

"Before I met you, I was lost. I was heading down a bad road, and nothing to me mattered. I viewed the world as an ugly place, a place where I desperately wanted no part of. And then there you were. You were – and still are – the most beautiful girl I have ever met. You showed me what it felt like to live – to love. You showed me that I could be what I wanted to be. You gave me a chance when no one else would. You give me courage in your smile, strength in your embrace, and love in your eyes. You give me happiness.

"Remember that day in the hall when we first locked eyes? It was a random thing, but just one look into your eyes and I couldn't breathe. Of course, back then I was dumb and did everything I could to stay away because it scared the hell out of me. _You_ scared the hell out of me. I couldn't fathom how strongly I was drawn to you. But no matter how much I tried to stay away from you, we kept getting pulled back together like magnets. So I flirted - and I fell for you. Hard. So fast and hard, I hadn't felt anything like that with any other girl. I thought you were too good for me.

"Everything changed when you asked me to the Sadie Hawkins dance.

"You took my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor. I tried to get out of the slow dance and being too close to you, but you would have nothing of it. And I don't know how, but one minute I had you in my arms, swaying to the music, and the next I was spewing my deepest thoughts out to you. I said, all those years ago: 'You are the most amazing person I've ever met. And somehow I convinced you to be into me. You’re incredible. I'm done. I don’t want to be with anybody else. All I need is you.'

"Even though we were young and didn't have the slightest clue how a real relationship worked, it was the truth. And I still stand by that statement as I kneel here on bended knee. We've had our fair share of ups and downs, but we've worked through them together. And I want to continue to do so, as your other half, the father of our child, and now your husband."

Without breaking eye contact, his lips broke apart in a huge grin as he popped the lid of the velvet box open with his thumb. He presented it to Marley. "So, Marley Lane Rose, will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

 

And then, with the sound of the waves softly crashing behind him, Jake waited.

Time seemed to freeze as Marley looked down at him, eyes shining with the will to hold back tears. There was a sharp intake of air – not Jake, because he couldn't get his lungs to work – and then a soft "yes". Jake was so bewildered that Marley had to chuckle breathlessly, fondly at him. Then a little louder she said, "Yes, I will marry you!"

He had never wanted to jump up so fast in his life. But first he had to get the ring on her finger. With fumbling fingers, he finally got the ring to slide on and somewhere to his right he heard a "hurry up and kiss her, dummy" from someone that sounded suspiciously like Kitty and he didn't have to be told twice. Marley grabbed a hold of him by his lapels and pulled, and Jake followed the movement. Their lips collided in a passionate kiss, and once Jake got his arms around her he picked her up and spun her. Once her feet landed back on the sand, the kiss tapered off into a sweet glide and they pulled back at the same time to rest their foreheads together. The couple laughed softly as their family continued to cheer and clap and catcall around them.

This was what heaven felt like and Jake was perfectly content to have it forever.  

**Author's Note:**

> \- Title and lyrics from Boyce Avenue's _Every Breath_.  
>  \- Jake's poster is a quote from The Script's _I'm Yours_.  
>  \- And of course no Jarley proposal would be complete without _A Thousand Years_.  
>  \- Jake's quote _"You are the most amazing person I’ve ever met..._ " is from 4x11: Sadie Hawkins.


End file.
